Record 77.1 Million Pounds of Food Collected: NALC
This year's "Stamp out Hunger" drive by the National Association of Letter Carriers collected a record amount of non-perishable food. In 18 years, more than a billion pounds have been collected.
Weak economy or not, Americans can still say they are a giving populace. The National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents 295,000 U.S. Postal Service carriers (including retired carriers), announced June 1 that this year’s “Stamp Out Hunger” drive netted a record 77.1 million pounds. In its 18 years, the drive has collected more than 1 billion pounds of food for local food banks, pantries, and shelters. NALC says this is the nation’s largest one-day effort to combat hunger.
The union has 2,500 locals and represents carriers in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The previous record was 73.4 million pounds, set last year.
"Despite the lingering effects of the recession, postal customers came through again this year in the continuing fight against hunger in America," NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said. "Our members and the thousands of rural letter carriers and other volunteers were proud to deliver the generous donations from millions of caring citizens who wanted to help needy families in their communities."
Branch 599 in Tampa, Fla., collected the most, 2,062,529 pounds, surmounting West Coast Florida Branch 1477, Buffalo/Western New York Branch 3, and Southern California’s Garden Grove Branch 1100. National partners were USPS’s Priority Mail, Campbell Soup Company, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, and the Feeding America food bank network. Rolando thanked “Family Circus” cartoonists Bil and Jeff Keane, who provide special artwork each year, and actors David Arquette and Courteney Cox, television host Ryan Seacrest, and drag racing star Ashley Force Hood for their promotional support.